


in this kingdom

by salvage



Series: you better make me [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M, hux needs aftercare, oblique reference to sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 00:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6173221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salvage/pseuds/salvage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>It started as a small, intermittent tremor, shaking his hand as he reached for the panel to open the door to his bedroom.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The immediate aftermath of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/5895991">mercy</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in this kingdom

**Author's Note:**

> the working title of this story was "emotionally repressed space fascist putters around apartment holding cat, experiences emotions."
> 
> so many thanks to Suzelle, as always.

He didn’t start trembling until he was out of the refresher and inspecting his uniform jacket for imperfections before tossing it, along with the rest of that day’s clothing, into the room’s laundry chute. It started as a small, intermittent tremor, shaking his hand as he reached for the panel to open the door to his bedroom. The door hissed open and Hux absently massaged the back of his right hand with the palm of his left, uncareful of his bruised and split knuckles. 

Millicent chirped at him, rising from where she had been lying on his bed, tail curling questioningly up. As she jumped off the bed, the room’s temperature controls adjusted for the thin undershirt he wore; her fur was ruffled slightly as a vent she walked past began to emit warm air. She gave herself a little shake and then pressed her face to his ankle, dragging her whiskers and head and neck and shoulders along his leg and undoubtedly getting her fur all over his sleep pants. He reached down and picked her up with one hand. 

She seemed so small and fragile as he held her against his chest with one arm, fidgeting for a moment before calming, the pads of her paws braced against his skin, her sharp rear claws just touching the soft pale inside of his arm, the tip of her tail flicking near his stomach. He could feel her tiny ribcage expand and contract with each breath she took. She was soft and warm and alive.

Hux held her as he scanned his communications panel one last time for any urgent messages. His left hand was steady as he scrolled through the message list: nothing that couldn’t wait until morning. Millicent’s tail flicked against his arm. He shut off the screen of the panel and crossed the room to the tray that held Millicent’s food and water bowls. He knelt, giving her the chance to jump down, but she just purred softly, so he picked up her water bowl and carried her into the half-kitchen attached to his quarters to rinse and refill the bowl. Finally, she lept from his arm onto the kitchen counter. She turned around and looked at him. 

“I fed you,” Hux said to her. 

Her eyes were large and dark. Her mouth opened as though to meow but the sound she made was more of a squeak than a meow. 

Hux sighed. In one of the cabinets was a bag of treats; he gave her one. Her teeth brushed his fingertips and her rough tongue scraped his skin. He closed the container and placed it back in the cabinet and closed the cabinet. He washed his hands and dried them and turned off the lights. He was trembling again. 

Lying on his bed didn’t seem to stop the shaking; if anything, it made it worse. He wrapped his arms around his torso and curled in on himself, fingertips pressed into the skin over his ribs, muscles tense. The memory surfaced of the soft give of the flesh of Ren’s wrist beneath his boot and the expression on Ren’s face: the tension around his closed eyes, the upward twitch of one corner of his parted lips. The tremors swept over Hux’s body in waves, intensifying and then abating. 

The room was dark except for the faint lights of his communications array and silent except for the ever-present white noise hum of the Star Cruiser’s engines; the hush of Hux’s sheets as he trembled against them seemed loud. Ren’s hair had been soft, the curls catching at the joints of Hux’s fingers as he slid his hand around the warm curve of Ren’s head. He could still feel Ren’s hand gripping his thigh, almost too tight, his fingertips digging into the tendons behind Hux’s knee. He remembered Ren’s cheek, too, pressed to his leg, the heat of his skin even through Hux’s clothing. Ren’s mouth wet and open. Hux ground his teeth together, breathing harshly. His fingertips dug into the hollows between his ribs.

There was a soft noise from the edge of the bed and Hux’s breath caught in his throat for one panicked moment, his whole body stilling. Then the sound of small careful footsteps across the covers. He breathed. When he opened his eyes the darkness was so complete he could barely see, but Millicent was obviously directly in front of his face, a small furry mass, purring loudly. 

“What do you want?” he whispered. Millicent approached him, butting her head into his chin. He stretched the tension out of his arms and hands and then raised one hand to stroke the backs of his fingers over the silky fur just below her ear. She turned her face toward his hand and he scratched around her whiskers with his fingertips, feeling more than hearing her purr. “All right,” he murmured. She tilted her head up and he scratched under her chin. The bones of her jaw were so delicate.

Still purring, she completed a little half-circle and then meticulously settled down, tucking her legs under herself, with her body pressed to his chest. He hovered his arm above her small form for a moment, unable to fold it tightly back across his torso as before. Instead he gingerly placed it around her, careful not to press too close, her whiskers gently prickling at the inside of his wrist. When he curled his fingers he could just barely feel the soft fur at the back of her neck. He sighed carefully, tension ebbing from his shoulders and back and stomach and jaw, but Millicent did not move. The engines of the ship hummed softly; Millicent breathed; Hux stopped trembling. Finally, he slept.


End file.
